I LOVE to Getaway! All kinds of Getaways ~ Girls, Family, Couples, Church, Mother/Daughter, Teacher, Romantic, you name it I am up for it! All these kinds of trips are GOOD for the Soul! Sometimes we are trying to connect with our friends, sometimes our spouse but most importantly is to reconnect with ourselves!
Here are some of the trips & ideas I have done in the past ~ Any questions feel free to post ~ I LOVE to TALK Getaways!

Monday, July 11, 2011

Nashville, TN ~ “The Best Weekend Ever”

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I asked for guest posts and guess what I got them! Thanks to fellow blogger & friend Emily, we can follow her all the way to Nashville for a great weekend of music and memories!﻿

Emily & Kate

﻿I'm not sure what it is, but buried somewhere deep in my childhood is a feeling of belonging at the thought of Nashville, Tennessee. I’m not sure if it’s the summertime memories spent there, my participation in flood clean-up last year, or my quirky admiration for Amy Grant… whatever sparked it… my love for Nashville will never die. So when my birthday this past Spring coincided with a concert that my friend and I wanted to see, we just had to head to Tennessee! And as soon as we arrived, you’d better believe that I felt right at home. If you've never been, you need to go. I'm not sure you'll get the same feeling I get, but you most certainly will feel like family and leave with your belly full.

Amy, Emily & Vince

We began our adventure in Franklin, TN. The most quaint and most adorable town that you ever did meet. Even the sky was screaming "heaven", with its vibrant blue background and rolling white clouds. We first stopped at H.R.H. Dumplins for lunch. God Bless the cook... from the Fruit Tea, to the homemade casserole, and the best roll that you will ever taste…. everything was delicious!

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FRUIT TEA!

Homemade casserole and BEST roll ever!

﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿ After lunch, we walked around town. There are cute little shops with homemade soaps and antique china. The funny thing about Franklin (and Nashville) is that everyone you pass on the street is all-done-up in their not-so-done-up way. I am so not cool enough to fit in there, but I sure wish I could! You wouldn't know a famous person if you walked right into them, because everyone looks the same! I'm not sure if anyone famous was hanging out at the Franklin Theater, but it sure was snazzy looking!

We made it to Nashville by way of Brentwood and Belle Meade. Rolling hills of farmland and beautiful mansions that those famous country singers live in. (And don’t worry…we definitely tried to find Amy Grant’s house, but to no avail.) Absolutely worth the scenic route!

We stayed right in downtown Nashville in the heart of Vanderbilt. For our first night in town, we decided to live it up right. We went to the Loveless Motel for dinner. The Loveless Motel is an iconic restaurant on the outskirts of Nashville. We were told that Tim McGraw had visited a few days before us. If you love southern food, this is the place for you! Country fried chicken, green beans, mac&cheese, blueberry pie, and of course…sweet tea! Oh, and the best biscuits and jam that you will ever taste! Don’t worry…they’ve got a company store on property where you can purchase jam for the road. (an online store for those of us who just can't wait to get there HamsandJams.com)

Bisquit Lady from the Loveless Cafe on Ellen

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Loveless Cafe's Love on a Plate!

After dinner, we went downtown to experience the honky-tonks. Just a bunch of guys (and girls) drinkin’ beer, guitar cases open, tryin’ to make it big. It is exactly what you’ve seen in the movies.

By that point all of our energy was spent, with all of those carbs you can imagine how tired we were!
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We woke up early the next morning with one thing on our minds: Pancakes! If you ever visit Nashville, you must visit the Pancake Pantry for breakfast. And my suggestion is that you get the sweet potato pancakes. They will melt in your mouth! But you’ve got to get there early, because the line will wrap around the block before 9 a.m.!

Hillsboro

The Pancake Pantry is in my second favorite area of town in Nashville: Hillsboro. Just another quaint town with fun shops and great food. After the sweet potato pancakes, we walked around novelty shops and bookstores. When it started raining, we decided to catch a movie and wait out the storm. After the movie, we stopped by a few more shops, and then we were craving pizza. Lucky for us, Pie in the Sky was waiting for us. A fun little pizza joint that I imagine some of the Nashville natives spend late nights at. (voted best pizza in Nashville)

After dinner it was time for the concert we had come for, and what would top off my birthday weekend. Matt Wertz was headlining, with Ben Rector opening for him. If you haven’t heard of either of these Nashville native singer/songwriters, please stop reading this blog and head over to iTunes to check them out! I have been a huge fan of Matt for a long time, but I am an even bigger fan of his friend Dave Barnes. Dave and Matt have essentially grown-up together in the music world, often playing together. Since they both live in Nashville, and are best friends, I was keeping my fingers crossed that Dave would make an appearance at Matt’s show that night. Fate presented me with the best birthday present ever…probably the best birthday ever… Dave showed up! That absolutely defined my weekend in Nashville as the bestweekend ever. And further solidified that Nashville is absolutely where I belong, and one day I will call it home…